Tragedy Beyond Words

An article in the New York Times by Jeffrey Gettleman about male rape victims truly shocked and disgusted me. Men are attacked--sometimes while sleeping-- and violated, maimed, or worse. Castrations are on the rise, "with more butchered men showing up at major hospitals."

Congolese residents want a political solution, not more military ones. Education, health care, opportunity. Kiva can truly help to bring this about, and I hope to contribute substantially. I wish this were more the focus of the US.

Part of the violence's blame is on Rwanda, which has been accused of "preserving its own stability by keeping the violence on the other side of the border." An article by Marc Lacey examines the memorials built out of bones and remains that have been preserved, in Rwanda. He describes the remnants: "A woman has her arms over her face, as if protecting herself from attack. One of her forearms has been hacked off. Another, a youngster, has a thin crack across his skull, the imprint of a machete."

And yet, what do the victims want from the memorials? "''We want the memorials to be centers for the exchange of ideas, not collections of bones,'' said Ildephonse Karengera, the country's director of memorials."

In both situations, the residents want harmony and understanding--not more bloodshed.